Blog

Everyone knows about TiCTaCs right? The tiny little breath mint candies that come in the adorable little boxes? They are typically found in the grocery store checkout aisles and gas stations. They’re offered in a variety of colors and flavors! So why are we sitting here talking about candy? This tiny treat is often mentioned during our work with DSS agencies and other community agencies. These fun little candies appear to have very little significance, but they have a much bigger meaning in...

Building relationships of healing, redemption and reconciliation in families and communities impacted by crime and mass incarceration. We cannot talk about healing communities without talking about restorative justice.

I'm afraid. * Can I get there and back before dark? Now I’m in a rhythm, going fast, breathing harder, yet still able to inhale the Sedona beauty that never gets old. Last mile now. Steep ascent. Crisp air chilling. Sun descending. * I’m here before dark and yeah, it looks just as scary as the pictures did. I’m not afraid of heights but something about this is terrifying. I watch “maniacs'' take their turn on the largest sandstone bridge in the Southwest and like Sid the Sloth I tell myself...

Free Interactive Webinar on Building Positive Relationships with Children who have Experienced Trauma. Perfect for professionals, parents, foster-parents, and teachers. Meets Tuesday nights from March 23rd to May 11th from 5 to 7:30 pm central time. The curriculum is aligned with the NCTSN, has TF-CBT components, and is researched based. Please e-mail Rhonda Rude by March 12th if you are interested in attending, it's an amazing training!

Family Estrangement (FE) is an emotional distancing and cessation of communication between one or more members of a family. It is the breakdown of the support from and to a person who can no longer trust their family to be on their side any longer.

Trauma-informed community networks throughout Virginia are beginning planning for Resilience Week VA 2021, May 2-8. Last year, Governor Ralph Northam signed the first Resilience Week VA proclamation , and there were many wonderful initiatives and events throughout the Commonwealth. Communities and individuals showed up in exciting and innovative ways to creatively celebrate the week in the wake of a global pandemic that shifted the way we are able to engage with one another. Now a year into...

By Joshua Vaughn, The Appeal, January 28, 1978 A new working paper from researchers at Duke University has found that policies that secured access to housing and utilities like water and electricity played a major role in preventing COVID-19 infections and deaths. Counties with a moratorium on evictions reduced county-level infections by nearly 4 percent and led to 11 percent fewer deaths, the paper found. And policies that prevented the disconnection of utilities like water and electricity...

From Prevention Institute, February 2021 Catastrophic events like the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, or other disasters can cause major upheaval in the lives of individuals and communities as a whole, disrupting the social fabric and cutting people off from much needed support. Preventing trauma and suicide under these conditions, and in the long term, requires dedicated attention and resources. Where do I start? The CDC’s Suicide Prevention Technical Package (link is external) and Adverse...

By Karen D'Souza, EdSource, February 24, 2021 Even before the pandemic pushed the early childhood sector into crisis, California educators were paying a wage penalty for working with younger children, according to a new report from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at the University of California at Berkeley. Preschool teachers and child care workers earn 38% less than their colleagues in the K-8 system, the report says. This explains why 17% of early childhood...

By Whittney Evans and Ben Paviour, National Public Radio, February 25, 2021 Virginia is on the verge of legalizing recreational marijuana for adults and trying to learn from other states how to make sure the rollout is as equitable as possible, despite the pandemic. MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Virginia is poised to become the 16th state to legalize recreational marijuana. As lawmakers there finalize the legislation, they're trying to learn the lessons of states that have come before them -...

Are you emotional about a certain situation? Or feeling "too much,"? Well, you are not alone in this, and it is not entirely a bad thing to feel this way. However, our emotions shape the way we perceive certain events and might even cloud our judgment regarding people and incidents. At the same time, it is also important to understand that emotions are part of life, and they complete us. It is part of human nature to feel certain things, and one cannot simply escape this reality. What we can...

Recently, I was provided a form letter addressed to a local police chief and friend of mine who knew of my interest in trauma-informed policing and who thought I should read the letter. The letter claimed that trauma-informed policing, specifically as it related to domestic violence and sexual violence allegations, was everything from “junk science” to “prejudicial against men.” Needless to say, I found the letter uninformed and unpersuasive.